The Destiny of “Tradition” in the Modern World: A Comparative Analysis of the Concepts of E. Hobsbawm and S. Eisenstadt

Abstract

The conflicting assessments of the nature and role of traditions in the modern world stem in part from differences in the use of the term; the specific phenomena that are the focus of each perspective differ in some important respects. This opens up the possibility that seemingly contradictory conclusions about the role of traditions in contemporary societies can be reconciled. The article discusses the role and influence of traditions for the analysis of the modern socio-cultural situation from the point of view of two approaches: the concept of invented tradition by Eric Hobsbawm and the concept of multiple modernities by Shmuel Eisenstadt. The purpose of the article is to give a comparative analysis of the two approaches to tradition, showing that modernity is not a culturally neutral, universal socio-cultural product, but is formed under the influence of many traditions. Based on the method of comparative analysis, it was revealed that the concept of multiple modernities by Shmuel Eisenstadt, as well as the concept of invented tradition by Eric Hobsbawm, contradict the view of the classical theory of modernization on modernity as a break with tradition. At the same time, the meaning that Eisenstadt attaches to tradition differs markedly from that proposed by E. Hobsbawm. It is concluded that from the point of view of the theory of multiple modernities, the invention of new traditions in modernity is better understood as a process of transformation, and that the reconstruction of a tradition is not the same as invention. In both cases, both for the transformation and reconstruction of the tradition, the sociocultural context is important.